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  Background and Aim: The occupational pesticide poisonings in farmers is one of the main health problems in developing countries. Increasing farmers' knowledge is particularly important in prevention. The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge of South Khorasan farmers' regarding occupational poisoning in 2009.

  Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 818 farmers of cites of the province were selected by cluster sampling method. For all subjects, a questionnaire including demographic information, the knowledge rate of precaution tasks (prevention), personal protective equipments and symptoms and complications of occupational poisoning, was completed through interview. The data were analyzed by SPSS version 11.5 and appropriate statistical tests at the significant level of P<0.05.

  Results: Among the selected farmers for this study, 802 persons (98.04%) were males and 16 persons (1.96%) were females. Mean age and work experience of them were 50.7±14.7 and 29±15.8 years, respectively. The mean score of knowledge of precautionary tasks was 14.62 ± 2.07 out of 18 knowledge of protective equipments was 4.94 ± 1.78 out of 7 and knowledge of the symptoms of poisoning was 7.9 ± 4.02 out of 16. A significant relationship was found between the score of knowledge of precautionary tasks with education level (P=0.003), age (P=0.002) and location (P<0.001). Comparison of this score with sex and the work experience showed no significant relationship (P>0.05).

  Conclusion: Improving health knowledge of farmers about the hazards of banned pesticides, personal protective equipments and environmental compliance issues through appropriate training programs is necessary. Also implementation of appropriate pesticide spraying devices by relevant governmental agencies is recommended.